Cock-a-Leekie Soup
Cock-a-Leekie is the national soup of Scotland.One story of how the name of this soup originated tells about the days when cockfighting was a favorite sport amongst both the rich and the poor. The loser (cock that is) was then thrown into the stockpot together with leeks; prunes were a later addition for extra flavor. The other version refers to the cock or rooster from the farmyard that was past its useful life and was therefore thrown into the pot. Of course, it wouldn’t always be a rooster since the hens would also come to the end of their egg laying lives and have to be used up.This is a very old recipe. A visitor to Scotland described it in 1598 – “the servants and lower tables had broth with a bit of stewed meat, the “upper messe, instead … had a Pullet with some prunes in the broth”. Modern recipes exclude the beef and many even exclude the prunes. They say that without the prunes this soup just becomes a very pleasant soup but with nothing to make it special. I still think it’s excellent.Today, it is very rare to get even an old boiling fowl to make a soup like this that depended on long, gentle simmering for the flavor. I use chicken thighs with bone and skin for flavor as well as onion, carrot and herbs to produce a flavorful stock. It is easier to do it over two days so that the broth can develop more flavor. But realistically with time available today, I make it with chicken thighs that will cook far quicker, chop the veg into small pieces, simmer with thighs and eat now.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken thighs with skin and bone
- 1 large bunch of leeks 1½-2 lbs weight
- 1 large onion quartered with skin still attached and 2 whole cloves pressed into each quarter the skin gives good color to the soup
- 2 large carrots thickly sliced (no need to peel, just wash them)
- 2 bay leaves
- parsley stalks if you have them
- 2 stalks of celery if you have them coarsely sliced
- 2 teaspoons of dried thyme put in a small coffee filter bag and tied shut
- A good grinding of fresh pepper and ½ teaspoon salt
- prunes – between one and three per person (Prunes today normally don’t need soaking)
- Chopped fresh parsley to garnish
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Put chicken thighs into a large stock pot and cover with 12 cups of water.
- Add onion, carrot, bay leaves, parsley stalks, celery, thyme, salt and pepper.
- Cut root end off the leeks, cut leeks in half lengthwise and carefully wash to remove sand and grit.
- Add outer leaves and all of top coarse green leaves to pot. You should be left with solid white leek with perhaps 1-2 inches of tender looking green leek. Not dark green leek.
- Bring contents of the pot to a boil, skim off scum that rises to top and discard. Almost cover pot and leave to simmer for about 1 hour. Turn off heat, leave pot to cool and refrigerate overnight. The next day remove any fat from top of pot.
- Strain content of the pot retaining chicken and broth. Cut the meat (shred it) into small pieces, discarding skin and bones.
- In a clean pot, melt butter and add half of the remaining raw leeks cut into small slices. Turn leeks in butter and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes until tender. Add cut up chicken and broth and bring to a boil.
- Add remaining sliced leeks and prunes and simmer, covered for about ten minutes.
- Serve the soup in individual soup bowls with prunes in each bowl, sprinkled with parsley. You will have a difference between tender cooked leeks and slightly crisp leeks. You can of course choose to cook more chicken and retain some for a different meal.
Notes
For gluten free barley substitute I use sorghum grain that has barley like texture/chewiness.